Pros:

Cons:

I was going to start this review off with a few jokes about the Olympics -- the steroid scandals, the fat guy who they thought was involved in the explosion in Atlanta, etc. I'd played a preview version of 989 Sports' Athens 2004, and while it struck me as decent, it didn't bowl me over. Having just spent a ridiculous amount of time with a final version of the game, though, I figured I'd get right to the point -- while not perfect, Athens 2004 is one of the more fun games I've Dual Shocked my way through in recent months. And as a party game, this might be the best one yet that doesn't involve cutesy Nintendo characters.

Track & Field games were once a standard genre in the gaming world. Back in the day, it wasn't uncommon to lose the use of a couple of your fingers for a few days after a lengthy bout of T&F action. Konami cranked out an ESPN-branded track game a few years ago, but for the most part, if you wanted to go for the gold, you would have had to have blown the dust off of an old console. While Athens offers a few ways to develop carpal tunnel syndrome thanks to some old-school-style events -- most of the running events have you pounding the X and O buttons until your wrist throbs -- it lets you shoot for a spot on the podium in a mess of other events that will test more than just your digital endurance.

In addition to the traditional sprints and hurdles, Athens lets you loose in the pool, the gymnastics mat, the archery range, and even lets you go wild on the back of a horse. All told there are more than two dozen different events to take part in. For the single-player game this has its ups and downs. Having to master so many different controller schemes adds plenty of depth to the thing. Taking part in the ten-event decathlon becomes a real test, because of the wide range of different ways to play. Even similar events like the discus, shot put, and javelin -- which could have all been given the same controller routine -- are all handled differently. Multi-event contests have an added sense of drama when you know you've got to medal -- or at least show well -- in an event you may not be so skilled in.

In case you weren't sure where her foot was.

The large number of events hurts things, though, due to the inconsistent difficulty levels between some of the events. I set an Olympic record with my first attempt at the triple jump, but an event like skeet shooting was another story. As a gamer, I spend most of my virtual time with a gun in my hand. If I'm not fragging smack-talking punks online in Unreal Tournament, I'm sniping my way through any number of squad-based or single-player shootouts. Yet, when it came to plucking a clay pigeon out of the sky, I was useless. Even after I sort of got a feel for the speed and other nuances, I was still in the back of the pack at the end of the event. A slight drag.